The results of this competition do not accurately reflect the opinion of the panel. One judge had Solon way out in front, and skewed the results. Had raw scores been turned into rankings, the results would have been different.

The results of this competition do not accurately reflect the opinion of the panel. One judge had Solon way out in front, and skewed the results. Had raw scores been turned into rankings, the results would have been different.

I hardly think that "skewed the results" as much as you're claiming. Overall, the judge you're blaming gave the lowest scores of the day for most groups. If I were a Solon student reading your comment right now I would certainly have my feelings hurt. All three groups are tremendous this year, and so are the three other finalists you didn't include. Solon does have a big gleaming trophy, however, so I wont' jump up and defend them too much right now - They know not to let internet comments get under their skin What bothers me the most is the criticism that this panel of judges is facing. You don't see others throwing claims that Twinsburg should've gotten third because one judge almost gave them a 200 shooting them up to second. That's because there are a lot of factors to take into consideration. Judges shouldn't have to worry about facing scrutiny after the competition is over for doing exactly what they were asked and payed to do: Giving their subjective opinions.

While I do appreciate the posting of scores because I think competitions and results should be as transparent as possible, it did make me sad for the students' sake to see you discredit Solon's GC so easily. I'm sure everyone put on a wonderful show on Saturday.

I think you do have to keep in mind that said judge is an alum of the school she had in first. Not that I think that automatically is why she had them in first but it does leave room for one to question if there was some bias in the judging.

I very rarely post on this site, but I feel the need to comment in light of the "alumni bias" suggestion. Katie Silcott graduated from Solon many years ago. We all graduated from somewhere. It would be just as reasonable to suggest that an alum might scrutinize his/her alma mater to a greater degree... but there's really no need to make these types of suggestions at all. This was a very tight contest with many fine groups. The performances of the top three at night were utterly mind-blowing... and really, can anyone think of three groups that are more unique and distinct, especially when compared back to back? That's why the scores were so close at the top, and why each judge had a different order at the end of the night. Katie is a respected choral director and an experienced adjudicator, and suggestions that personal biases impacted her scoring are out of line. I sat with her all day and saw no evidence of this whatsoever. Let's be better than this.

I'd also like to compliment the fine performers from Garfield Heights, ETC, and Olentangy, who are largely being overlooked in this discussion, but are also GC-caliber groups in their own right. Bravo to all, and thank you for such a wonderful day at Medina!

I think you do have to keep in mind that said judge is an alum of the school she had in first. Not that I think that automatically is why she had them in first but it does leave room for one to question if there was some bias in the judging.

I am aware, for she was my choral director for many years. This isn't about Katie, it's about criticizing judges as a whole for doing their job. Having watched Solon this year because of the events you have attended (or you claim to have attended. Don't get me started on unassociated accounts) I'm sure you can see how they won. They, along with all of the groups in finals, are of an extremely high caliber in the Midwest.

I meant no disrespect to her and I know she is very qualified. But it does seem often that groups that have affiliations with the judging panel end on top. Same thing happened with Jeff Clark and Fairfield this year. I don’t know how he placed them but it’s easy to think that a bias COULD be involved. I am not even saying that I think that’s what happened I was just simply pointing it out. I was not trying to discredit anyone. Sorry if anyone was offended

Well, Twinsburg and Findlay both had two first place votes. If Findlay had a higher vocal score, then there would’ve been the possibility for three different winners based on the system used to determine the winner. Solon by raw score, Twinsburg by ranking, and Findlay by consensus ordinal.

I see your point because I was actually in Medina that night. I usually make trips to competitions if they're not too far, but I was very surprised Findlay didn't win it all. All finalists were good, I usually like seeing how the smaller schools are against the bigger schools and they did not disappoint at all.